Seat construction



SEAT CONSTRUCT-ION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. '6, 1939 Patented June 16, 1942 SEAT CONSTRUCTION- Alexander Benzickand Herman C. Rusch Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Kenosha, Wis., a corporation of Maryland Application December 6,1939, Serial No. 307,737

7 Claims; (01. 155-7) This invention relates to seat constructionand has particular reference to the framing-of a seat for an automobile.

It is an object of this invention to provide an adjustable back for an automobile seat.

It -is another object of this invention to provide an automobile seat which is arranged to tilt forward and also fold back to form a lounge chair or bed. i I 7 It is another object of this invention to provide portion-of the flange of the member l4. Pivoted a seat for an automobile which is adjustable to to the lug 22 by means of the'bolt or rivet 24 various positions to suit the comfort of theuser. is the lower hinge leaf 26. The hinge 26 is made It .is anotherobject of this invention to -pro-' up of an angle shaped member having a lower vide a novel hinge structure for the back of a inturned flange 28 for-stiffening purposes and is seat whichwill allowthe back to be fixed in curved outwardly from the lug 22 to conform any one of a m nt iti n 7 a a generally with the outline of the seat cushion.

It is another object of this invention to pro- Near the back of the lower hinge'leaf 26 is provide a novel hinge arrangedto tip a seat forward vided a raised'portion '30 which is bent in at 32 which hinge is also adapted to carry asecond near the back of the hinge and then'continued hinge for folding a seat backwardly. to the rear in a vertical flange 34. On the inside Other objects and advantages of this invention of the flange is welded a plate 36 whichhas a forwill be apparent from a consideration of the Wardly projecting portion 38 for supporting a attached drawings of which there are two sheets shaft 40. The shaft supporting portion 38 of and in which- 7 g H V the plate 36 is braced relative to the lower ,hinge Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a seat 5 l af 6 y means of the p ack 42 for an automobile; g which is welded to the upstanding portion of Figure 2 representsa section taken along the the hinge leaf 26 and to the shaft supporting line 22 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction section of the plate 36. It will be noted that of the arrow the shaft supporting section 38 of the plate 36 Figure 3 represents a section taken along the 3 extends forwardly of the upstanding portion 30 line 3-3 of Figure 1 showing the parts in tilted of the lower hinge leaf v26. In this manner the position and looking in the direction of the arshaft 46 may be extended beyond theside of the r 1 7 7 lower hinge leaf 26 without interfering with the Figure 4 represents a section taken along the upstanding portion30. line 4-4 of, Figure 1 and looking in the direction The right hand pp hinge leaf is fastened to of the arrows; r the lower hinge leaf by means of a pivot 44 which Figure 5, represents a section taken along the is pa d through the pp nge leaf l6 and the line 5-5 of Figure 2' and looking in the direction rear flange 34 of thelower hinge leaf 26 and the of t rd plate .36 which is welded to the flange 34. The Figure 6 represents an elevation of the lockpp h ngeleafifl is made of flat metal stock ing pin assembly used in our invention; and, nd as fl ge 46 (see Figu e 4 an ed Figure '7 represents a section taken along the flange 48 for supporting the back cushion and a line 7-1 of Figure 6. lower segment shaped portion 50, along the bot- We have illustrated in Figure 1 the front seat tom edge of which is formed a series of notches of an automobile. This seat is divided in two 52. Th segment p t 50 of h upp r hin e sections, into ;a drivers seat 10 and the right leaf s ppo te deways against the plate 36 hand or passenger seat l2; The seat is supported n m y be swung about the pivot 44 in a verupon a suitable frame [4 which we have shown tical plane. to be a channel member arranged to conform In order to maintain the upper hinge leaf generally to the outline of the" seat structure. 50 I8 in a given angular position relative to the The member I4 may be fastened directly to the lower hinge, we have provided the locking lever floor of the automobile or may form a part of 54 which is a. fiat piece of metal having a boss a movable carriage sliding the entire seat strucportion 56 and carrying the lug 58 which may ture forward or backward as is commonly done be press fitted or Welded into a hole in the lein automobiles today. ver 54. Boss 56 is drilled at 60 to receive the This invention deals particularly with the right hand seat l2 which is provided with a back cushion 16. Back cushion l6 is-supported by means of a right upper hinge leaf I8 and a center or left upper hinge leaf 2!]. On the right or outside of the frame member l4 we have provided a lug 22. This lug may be in any form so long-as it is attached rigidly to the frame member 14. We

l have shown it to be constructed by bending up a shaft 40 and is provided with a hole 62 through which a pin may be passed to fix the locking lever 54 to the shaft 40. The locking lever 54 is fastened to the shaft 46, as just described, at a point where the lug 58 will engage the notches 52 in the upper hinge leaf segment. It will be noted that we have arranged the position of the shaft 60 to be as nearly as possible on the circle generated by the notches 52 as they rotate about the pivot 44. In this manner any tendency of a rotative force in the upper hinge to act on the lug 58 and rotate the locking lever 54 is reduced to a minimum since any force so applied will act almost directly through the axis of shaft 40. The shaft 40 eXtendsto the right of the seat and is provided with a'handle-portion 64 so that the shaft may be rotated by the occupant to engage or disengage the lug 58 with the upper hinge leaf l8.

The left side of the right seat is similar to the right side in operation. At the center or left side of the seatwe have provided a longitudinally extending channel member 66 having a horizontal stiffening flange 68 and an upstanding ear or lug to which is fastened the-center lower hinge leaf 12. The channel member 66 is rigidly fastened to the base member I l and may be made as a partthereon The center lower hinge leaf 12 is formed of flat bar stock and has a bottom or horizontal portion 14 and a vertical arm 15. The lower horizontal portion 14 is bent up slightly and offset towards the center of the carat 18-so that when the'hinge 12 is fastened to the channel member 66 by means of the pivotBU, the horizontal portion 14 will rest on the bottom of the channel member 66.

Welded to the top portion 16 of the lower hinge leaf 12 is a generally triangularly shaped plate 82 which extends forwardly of the portion 16 and is bent back into the plane of the lower hinge 12 at '84. The forward portion of the plate 82 is drilled to receive the end of the shaft 40 which carries a second locking lever 54 to engage the center upper hinge leaf 20. The upper center hinge leaf isjust the reverse of the hinge leaf [8 and has the same notches 52 which cooperate with the locking pin 58 in the same manner as described in connection with the outer hinge leaf 18. The upper .center'hinge leaf20 is fastened to the center lower'hinge'leaf 12 by means of the pivot 86 which is passed through the upper end of the lower hinge leaf [6, the plate 82, and the-upper hinge leaf 20.

The actual cushioning and springs for the seat and back portion may be made up separately according to the general practice today and fastened to the hinge members by any suitable means such as bolting the back cushion to the upper hinges l8 and 20 through the 'holes 88 and by resting the bottom or seat cushion upon the channel member l4 and the lower hinges 26 and 12. It should thus be apparent that when the handle 64 is pressed down, locking the back portion l6 with respect to the lower hinge, the entire seat may be tipped forward about the pivots 24 and 80. V This construction is necessary in the present day two door automobile construction where it is necessary to make room for persons to enter the back seat through the single front door. By pulling the handle 64 upwardly the locking pin 54 will become disengaged from the notches 52, and the back portion I 6 may be lowered to any position desired by the occupant. If desired, the back may be lowered by means of the legs 90 which are rods pivoted in the brackets 92 screwed to the back of the seat. The rods 90 may be bent up from their lower portion and connected by a cross bar 94 to form a roberail across the back of the seat.

The shaft 40 isprovided with a leaf spring 96 which is fixed to th'e shaft by the pin 98. The

spring bears on the brace 42 and tends to rotate the shaft so as to keep the locking pin 58 in engagement with the notches 52.

While we have described our invention in some detail, we do not intend this description to be limiting upon our invention, and we reserve the right to such equivalent. structures as shown within the'following claims.

We claim:

1. In an automotive seat construction, a base member, means-forming two supporting points on said base member, two lower hinge members pivoted on said supporting points and arranged to rest on said base to the rear of said supporting points, plates carried by said hingemembers in opposite parallel relationship, .an upper hinge member pivoted to each of said plate members, said upper hinge members having asurface below their pivot points in contact with said plates and defining a series of radially disposed notches, locking pins pivoted to said lowerhinges and having lugs engageable with said notches in said upper hinge, the points at which said locking pins are pivoted to said lower hinge being just outside the are generated by said notches about their pivots, and means for-moving said'locking-pins into and out of engagement with said notches.

2. In an automobile seat, a base member, means forming a supporting point fastened to said base member, a lower hinge pivotedto said supporting point and arranged to rest on saidbase to the rear of said supporting point, an upper hinge pivoted to said lower hinge at the rear thereof, said-upper hinge having asegmental portion defining a seriesof notches below the point where said upper hinge is pivoted to said lower hinge, a locking pin pivoted to said lower hinge and having a lug engageable with said notches in said upper hinge, the point at which said-locking pin is pivoted to said lower hinge being just outside the are generated =by said notches about their pivot, and means for moving said locking pin into and out of engagement with said notches.

3. Automotive seat construction comprising a lowerhinge member, said hinge member being pivoted at its forward end and curved to ,fit the end ofa seat cushion, an upstanding portion on the rear of said lower hinge member, a vertical longitudinal flange formed on said upstanding portion, a forwardly extending platefastened to said flange, a rotatable shaft carried by said plate, an upper hinge member pivoted to said lower hinge member, and a locking'pin carried on said shaft engageable with said upper hinge member when said upper hinge member is moved into any of a plurality of positions.

4.'Automotive seatvconstruction comprising a lower hinge member, said hin e member being pivoted at its forward end and curved to flt the end of a seat cushion, an upstanding portion on the rear of said lower hinge member, a vertical longitudinal flange formed on said upstanding portion, a forwardly extending plate fastened to said flange, a rotatable shaft carried at the forward portion of said plate, an upper hinge member pivoted to said plate, and a locking pin carried on said shaft engageable with said upper hinge member to lock the same in any of a plurality of positions.

5. A lower hinge for a folding seat comprising an angle curved to fit the outline on the end of said seat, a raised portion on the back of said angle, said raised portion being bent to the rear to form a vertical flange, a plate secured to said vertical flange and extending forwardly therefrom, and a reinforcing bracket secured to the forward portion of said plate and to the raised portion of said channel.

6. Automotive seat construction comprising a lower hinge member, said hinge member being pivoted at its forward end and curved to fit the ends of a seat cushion, an upstanding portion on the rear of said lower hinge member, a vertical longitudinal flange formed on said upstanding portion, a plate secured to said vertical flange, a reinforcing bracket secured between said plate and the upstanding portion of said lower hinge member, an upper hinge member, a pivot passed through said plate and vertical flange for supporting said upper hinge member, a shaft journaled in said plate and said reinforcing bracket, and a locking lever mounted on said shaft and arranged to engage said upper hinge.

'7. Automotive seat construction comprising a lower hinge member, said hinge member being pivoted at its forward end and curved to fit the end of a seat cushion, an upstanding portion on the rear of said lower hinge member, a generally vertical longitudinal flange formed on said upstanding portion, a plate fastened to said flange and extending beyond an edge of said flange, a rotatable shaft carried by said plate, an upper hinge member pivoted to said lower hinge member, and a locking pin carried on said shaft engageable with said upper hinge member in any of a plurality of positions.

ALEXANDER BENZICK. HERMAN C. RUSCH. 

